HRAB 09-18-90 Meeting AgendaMEMORANDUM
TO: Historic Resources Board Members
FROM: RCT, Deputy Director
DATE: September 12, 1990
RE: September 18, 1990 Meeting and Agenda
COUNTY of FREDERICK
Department of Planning and Development
703/665-5651
FAX 703/667-0370
There will be a meeting of the Historic Resources Board Monday
September 18, 1990, at 7:30 p.m., in the conference room of the Old
Court House, 9 Court Square, Winchester, Virginia.
Please let me know if you have any questions or are unable to
attend.
AGENDA
1. Recommendation on rezoning application #008-90, Wiseman/Shiho
tract.
2. Finalize proposed revision to historic preservation section
of Comprehensive Plan.
3. Discussion proposed Historic Overlay District Regulations.
4. Decision on any action to be taken on information regarding
status and condition of Shawneeland Lodge.
5. Other.
9 Court Square - P.O. Box 601 - Winchester, Virginia - 22601
HRAB Agenda Items 9/18/90
1. Information pertaining to rezoning application #008-90 was
enclosed in the last agenda package. The proposal is to
rezone the existing 73 acres of Rural Areas (RA) zoned land,
to 53 acres of Business General (B-2); and 20 acres of
Industrial Transition (B-3) zoning. The property is located
on Rt. 642, southeast of the I-81/Rt. 37 interchange. The
applicants have proffered;
1) $150,000.00 toward improvements to Rt. 642
2) To build a connector road through their property
3) To install underground utilities
4) To dedicate and preserve up to one acre for the
historic fort site.
The HRAB will need to make a recommendation to the Planning
Commission and Board of Supervisors as to what needs to be
done to adequately protect the integrity of the fort site.
A motion should be made at this meeting if at all possible.
Unfortunately there were not enough members in attendance at
the August 21 meeting to constitute a quorum; thus no formal
action could be taken by the Board.
The consensus of the members present at the August meeting was
that in addition to the proffers submitted the applicants
also:
1. Hire an architect to do measured drawings of the
structure prior to destruction, and that a copy be
supplied to the County to be included with the survey
information currently being gathered;
2. Somehow use the Carriebrooke name in conjunction with
the future development of the site.
2. A draft of the revisions to the history section of the
Comprehensive Plan is enclosed. The HRAB needs to finalize
a recommendation for revisions to the Plan as soon as
possible. Public hearings on the contents of the plan are
tentatively scheduled for November. (This gives us only one
more meeting) Members of the HRAB will be expected to attend
the hearings and field questions regarding their preservation
recommendations and current activities.
3. A draft of a Historic Overlay District is enclosed for
discussion.
4. An engineering report, requested by the Board of Supervisors
on the condition of the Shawneeland Lodge, was enclosed in
HRAB Agenda Items 9/18/90
last months agenda package. The Board may wish to make a
recommendation to the Board of Supervisors concerning the
disposition of the structure. It may be possible to convince
the Board of Supervisors to have the structure dismantled in
such a fashion that, if some portion of the old cabin is
salvageable, it can be determined and the appropriate action
as to its future determined at that time.
FREDERICK COUNTY
COMPREHENSIVE POLICY PLAN
1990
ROUGH DRAFT
HISTORY
For 12,000 years a sparse population of Indians lived in this area,
but many more traveled through on the Indian Path from New York and
Pennsylvania to winter in Georgia and South Carolina. The first
Europeans to come through the Shenandoah Valley were Jesuit
missionaries in 1632, and details of this wilderness area were
first shown on a map by a Frenchman, Samuel de Champlain.
English ownership of Frederick County was originally by the
Virginia Company but was taken over by the Crown in 1624. In 1649,
Charles II granted seven royalist supporters the land "bounded by
and within the heads" of the Potomac and Rappahannock Rivers. By
1681, Thomas, the Second Lord Culpeper, owned most of this original
land grant. After he died in 1689, his daughter married Thomas,
the Fifth Lord Fairfax, and later, their son Thomas, the Sixth Lord
Fairfax, inherited the whole landgrant.
By the 1650's various traders, trappers, and explorers were coming
to the Shenandoah Valley. Dr. John Lederer from Hamburg Germany
documented his visit to the Valley in 1670 in his diary. English
colonel, Cadwallader Jones, explored the central Valley in 1673,
and in 1716, Governor Alexander Spotswood and his fifty "Knights
of the Golden Horseshoe" crossed into the Valley through Swift Run
Gap and returned with glowing accounts.
Englishmen settled the piedmont, then pushed west by foot and horse
through passes in the Blue Ridge, and many more German and
Scotch -Irish settlers came down the valleys from Philadelphia and
Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Some of the earliest settlers were
Quakers who built the Hopewell Friends Meeting House which still
stands near Clearbrook. These settlers were attracted by the
fertile soils and the abundant forest and water resources.
The Government of Colonial Virginia wanted this wilderness settled
as quickly as possible, as a buffer against Indians, but Robert
"King" Carter, Lord Fairfax's agent, was settling Fairfax's land
slowly in large plantations. The government of Virginia had
chartered counties in the landgrant as settlement spread up the
Northern Neck and west through the land grant. Virginia began to
2
argue that Fairfax's landgrant ended at the Blue Ridge, and began
granting up to 1,000 acres each to settler families west of the
Blue Ridge.
Virginia gave particular developers the right to recruit settlers
and sell them up to 1,000 acres per family within a general
"grant" area. Each parcel would revert to Virginia unless settled
with a house and orchard within two years.
Abraham Hollingsworth settled near the site of Abrams Delight in
about 1729. Owen Thomas and Jeremiah Smith came to Back Creek in
1730 and settled on 806 acres granted in Thomas' name. Smith left
and returned with a wife before 1741. His log cabin is now part
of a house west of Back Creek and south of Route 50. In 1732, Jost
Hite settled 16 families on his 5,000 acre "grant" and built Hite's
fort at Bartonville.
The Indian Path became the Great Wagon Road and Indians were
dispossessed westward by treaty and force of arms. Frederick
County was created from western Orange County by the House of
Burgesses on December 21, 1738 and was named after the Prince of
Wales.
James Wood, County Surveyor for Orange County, platted a town at
the County seat, which he named Winchester, after his birthplace.
It consisted of 26 half -acre lots and three streets within 1300
acres, which he claimed as wilderness land owned by Virginia. Those
streets are now Loudoun, Boscawen and Cameron Streets.
County government in Virginia was originally by self-perpetuating
courts. Frederick County's Court was proclaimed and organized in
1743, and its officials took their oaths of office on November 11
of that year. It first met at the surveying office of its clerk,
James Wood, at the site on which he later built Glen Burnie.
By 1743, the Frederick County court admitted that Lord Fairfax's
land included the County. At the age of 16, George Washington was
a member of a surveying party that came to Frederick County for
Lord Fairfax in 1748. In 1749, Lord Fairfax moved to Frederick
County and built his home, Greenway Court, at White Post. He
accepted Wood's 1,300 acre claim and other additional lots at
Winchester. Eventually, eleven other counties would be created
from the 3,824 square miles included in the original Frederick
County.
97
George Washington was associated with Winchester and Frederick
County between the years of 1748 and 1765. Early during those
years he maintained a surveying office in Winchester. During the
French and Indian War, he was given a Commission and later made
Commander in Chief of the colonial forces with headquarters in
Winchester. Washington held his first elective offices
representing Frederick County, having been elected to the house of
Burgesses in 1758 and 1761.
Winchester played an important part in the American Revolution.
Local riflemen under the command of Daniel Morgan were among the
first to join the fight.
During the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries life in
the current Frederick County area centered around small family
farms. Local farms tended to be smaller than farms to the east.
During this period wheat production became the center of the local
economy, along with cattle production. In 1820, there were fifty
flour mills in Frederick County along with numerous sawmills,
tanneries, and other business activities.
Economic life was centered around Winchester and other local towns
including Stephens City, Middletown, Kernstown, Gainesboro and
Pare. There were a large number and diversity of craftsmen and
merchants in these towns. The strongest influence on the local
economy was the Great Wagon Road, which later became Route 11 south
and which carried settlers and travelers from Philadelphia, south
through the Valley and to the west. Activity associated with this
road made Winchester one of the largest towns in western Virginia.
Frederick County played a significant part in the Civil War. The
northern Shenandoah Valley supplied food, livestock, horses, and
soldiers to the southern cause. The Valley was also important
because of its strategic location in relation to Washington D.C.
The town of Winchester changed hands in the war about 70 times, an
average of once every three weeks for four years.
Major local battles included the First Battle of Kernstown in March
of 1862, during which General Stonewall Jackson suffered his only
tactical defeat during the Valley Campaign but did succeed in
keeping Union troops in the Valley from leaving to reinforce
McClellan on the peninsula. In May of 1862, Jackson's army
defeated the Union troops at the First Battle of Winchester.
4
In the Second Battle of Winchester in 1863, confederate troops
successfully attacked and defeated Union troops occupying forts
on the western side of Winchester. Union troops were again
defeated at the second battle of Kernstown in 1864.
At the Third Battle of Winchester General Philip Sheridan's Union
troops successfully attacked confederate troops at Winchester. With
the high numbers of losses on both sides, a new war of attrition
was to begin in the Valley from which the southern forces would
never recover. For three weeks in 1864, Sheridan's troops
undertook the infamous "Burning" to end Confederate strength in the
Valley. Union troops burned 2,000 barns, 120 mills, and a half a
million bushels of grain and confiscated 50,000 head of livestock
in the Valley. Virginia's richest valley was left desolate.
In October of 1864, Jubal Early's Confederate troops were
entrenched south of Cedar Creek. The Union troops were encamped
just north of Cedar Creek. A surprise attack by the Confederates
drove the Union troops to the north. General Sheridan rallied his
troops and attacked, driving the Confederates back across Cedar
Creek. This victory helped boost Union morale and helped President
Lincoln win reelection.
After the war, old economic activities resumed and new activities
began. New businesses included a tannery, dairying, farm
machinery, and shipping. A variety of agricultural activities
continued. Fruit growing and processing became particularly
important early in the twentieth century. Economic activities
continued to diversify in the twentieth century to include a number
of manufacturing activities including plastics, automotive
products, containers and other products. Activities continued to
be based on the accessibility of the area and on north -south travel
along the route that was once the Great Wagon Road and is now Route
11 and Interstate 81.
Historic Preservation
There are a number of historic sites in Frederick County. The
following sites are listed on both the Virginia Landmarks Register
and the National Register:
Belle Grove
Hopewell Friends Meeting House
5
Monte Vista
Springdale House and Mill Complex
Cella �atl�� Hau�� (b�.rthplac�}
St. Thomas Episcopal Church Middletown)
There are a number of other historic sites in
are also several Civil War battlefield site
important role in that conflict. The Civil War
following:
Battlefields:
First and Second Battles of
Third Battle of Winchester
First and Second Battles of
Cedar Creek
::z:
Fortifications:
Star Fort
Collier Redoubt
Parkins Mill Battery
Entrenchments:
Nineteenth Corps Line
1864 - 1865 Winter Line
Winchester
Kernstown
the County. There
s that played an
Sites include the
There is a need to locate and document all historic structures and
sites in the County so that as the County develops methods can be
applied to these areas of significance in an effort to protect,
enhance and preserve them.
In 1988, acting on behalf of the Frederick County Board of
Supervisors, the Winchester -Frederick County Historical Society
applied for and received an $18,000.00 Threatened Properties
Matching Grant from the Virginia Department of Historic Resources
(DHR). The Board of Supervisors contributed $15,000.00 and the
Historical Society donated $3,000.00 for a combined budget of
$36,000.00 for the survey. Over 750 properties were documented in
this phase of the survey. A second Threatened Properties Matching
Grant was received, and phase two of the survey work began in June
of 1990.
(MAP OF SURVEYED AREA)
The area covered in phase one of the survey is show in figure
(mapl). The results of this inventory will be an indispensable
foundation for an effective preservation program within the County,
providing vital information to aid in the planning process.
In 1989 the Board of Supervisors established the Historic Resources
Advisory Board (HRAB), to provide detailed information on historic
resources to the Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors. The
HRAB is charged with the following:
Developing standards and criteria to be utilized in evaluating
what sites are of<h_ significance.
Using the standards, select particular sites and geographic
areas which would be recommended to the Board of Supervisors
for recognition as historically significant ste and/br
historic districts. - - -- - - ---
Develop recommendations on additional methods to be used to
preserve historic resources.
Review
particular
development
Develop recommendations on the use of historic resources in
association with tourism, economic development and education.
Historic sites should not be singled out on the basis of arbitrary
decisions, but on established criteria and documentation.
Currently, the HRAB is compiling a list of potentially significant
sites from those surveyed, based on established criteria. The list
is a first step, and consists of those sites which the HBAB will
evaluate against more detailed standards in order to begin
recommending sites for recognition as locally significant. Of the
areas surveyed to date, those sites which are seen as the most
significant are shown in figure (map 10).
In addition to individual properties, several areas of the County
have been identified as having potential for historic districts.
These areas are shown in figure (mapll).
�3
{BATTLEFIELD MAPI
Zoning or other regulatory methods can be used to help protect the
mesh importantresources. In addition, incentives allowed
by law for the relzabiYitation, adaptive reuse or restoration of
historic structures should be considered.
Care should be taken in the design and provision of streets and
utilities in historic areas to maintain the historical integrity
and character of historic areas. The protection of historic areas
should be carefully considered in establishing new roads. Land use
patterns should be planned that are harmonious with the historic
environment.
Historic preservation can play an important role in economic
development. Tourism is an important local industry. The
possibility of improving the attractiveness of the area to tourists
should be considered in a systematic manner. The protection of
historic resources will play an important role in this effort.
Historic Preservation Policy
A number of historic preservation issues have been identified,
including the following:
The need to identify, document and designate historic sites,
structures and landscapes
The need to protect and promote the economic and cultural
importance of historic resources
The need to develop methods to protect historic resources.
The following are policies for historic preservation.
Goal - Protect the historic resources in Frederick County.
Strategy 1 - Inventory and designate historic sites and districts
in the County.
Strategy 2 - Study and adopt methods to preserve historic
resources.
Strategy 3 - Incorporate historic resources in efforts to promote
tourism.
10
Strategy 4 - Carefully consider the impacts of land use,
development and facility decisions on historic resources.
Strategy 5 - Develop a comprehensive approach to historic
preservation which will result in a system of sites and
battlefields dedicated or protected in a coordinated fashion.
Strategy 6 - Establish an historic resources education program
aimed at increasing the publics awareness of the abundance of
significant historic sites in the County.
Implementation Methods:
1. Undertake a complete investigation, documentation,
evaluation, and recognition of historic sites. Recognize
sites with a process of plaques and signs. Identify those
which may be eligible for the State and National register and
assist in the preparation and submission of nominations.
2. Continue to use the Historic Resources Advisory Committee
to assist the County with information and recommendations on
historic resources. Carefully consider the impacts of
decisions concerning land use, roads, utilities, and
facilities on historic resources.
3. Develop techniques for protecting and enhancing historic
resources including the designations of aohistoric
districts, zoning methods, impact analysis, aril voluntary
methods such as conservation easements and tax incentives for
rehabilitation efforts. Strong support should be given to
private initiatives such as voluntary compliance with the
Secretary of the Interiors Standards for Rehabilitation.
4. Develop clear standards for the creation and regulation of
historic districts which provide fair and effective means of
protection as well as give design guidance.
5. Include concerns for historic preservation and tourism in
economic development strategies. Promote the concept of a
Historic Weekend to consisting of reenactments, tours,
exhibits and other activities. Maintain a list and map of
historic sites throughout the County. Develop brochures which
11
list sites of interest and show locations.
6. Use the dedication of land and historic districts to
develop a comprehensive system for historic site preservation.
Utilize the system of battlefield memorials and districts to
promote education and tourism. Designate areas to be dedicated
the Comprehensive Plan.
6. Develop a series of educational slide presentations, and
lectures to promote historic preservation. Create a document
to guide builders and others interested in preservation
regulations 3 .11 tCIM ::1 n+ YIfY
12
(MAP OF SUGGESTED HISTORIC DISTRICS)
13
HISTORIC DISTRICT ORDINANCE
Draft Outline
Sept. 12, 1990
Statement of Intent:
The Historic Area District (HA) is intended to protect, enhance,
and aid in the perpetuation of especially noteworthy examples, or
elements, of Frederick County's cultural, social, economic,
religious, political, or architectural history in order to:
a. Foster civic pride and preserve an appreciation for the
historic values on which the County and the Nation were
founded;
b. Maintain and improve property values;
c. Protect and enhance the County's attractiveness to tourists
and visitors;
d. Provide for the education and general welfare of the people
of the County; and
e. Otherwise accomplish the general intent of this ordinance.
Procedures for establishing District Boundaries:
HA districts may hereafter be created by amendment of the
Zoning Ordinance as provided for in Article 2, section 6 of
the Zoning Ordinance. The Historic Resources Advisory Board
(HRAB) may propose to the Planning Commission and/or the Board
of Supervisors such amendments as deemed appropriate,
including the establishment of historic districts and revision
of existing historic districts. The HRAB shall prepare and
submit a report to substantiate the proposed amendment. Such
report shall establish and define the historic district
boundaries as well as the historic and/or architectural
significance of the buildings, structures, or sites to be
protected; and describe current planning, present trends,
conditions, and desirable public objectives for preservation.
The creation of an historic district shall include a
declaration that the landmarks, buildings, structures, or
sites to be preserved are in fact of historical and/or
architectural significance requiring protection against
destruction and encroachment, and that all stated
recommendations of the Design Review Board (DRB) which
supplement or modify the general regulations set forth herein
are adopted by reference and are to be applied to the district
created.
HISTORIC DISTRICT DRAFT ORDINANCE page 2
Criteria for determining historic significance•
The merits of a district shall be based on architectural
aesthetics as well as historical factors and shall be
documented in a written report. Certain buildings or areas,
although not associated with an historic person or event, may
be valuable examples of the County's physical and cultural
heritage.
Such report shall document the following specific matters:
A. Architectural Style:
Merit of the structure to be based on how well it
exemplifies the distinguishing characteristics of a
recognized style.
1. significance of architectural design
2. scale and/or interrelationship of structures and/or
environmental features
3. significant patterns of development
4. quality of workmanship
5. amount of surviving original material
6. original location and/or use
7. remaining outbuildings or dependencies
8. surrounding environment, gardens, landscaping, walks
9. overall aesthetic quality
10. original integrity of the structure and its details
B. Historic and/or Cultural Significance:
1. association with historic person
2. association with historic events
3. work of leading architect or master craftsman
4. site or structure of cultural significance
In addition, sole or infrequent surviving building types
and structures not historic in themselves but adding to
the character of an historic area need to be looked at
as potentially deserving preservation.
C. Additional Information:
1. a description of existing structures, premises, and
uses likely to have an adverse effect on the desired
character of the district, including those near and
visually related to the district, with maps, photographs,
and other data indicating the reasons for such an effect.
2. an analysis of lands not occupied by structures,
including lands near and visually related to the
district. For public lands, ownership, use, and location
shall be indicated. For private lands, ssssd
vauatM shall be added as well as existing zoning and
planned land use.
HISTORIC DISTRICT DRAFT ORDINANCE page 3
District Regulations:
Within the historic district, the following regulations shall
apply:
1. New construction reconstruction and exterior alterations
No building or structure, including signs, shall be
erected, reconstructed, restored or substantially altered
in exterior appearance unless the DRB approves of the
proposed activity's compatibility with the historic,
aesthetic, cultural, and/or architectural aspects of the
landmark.
2. Matters to be considered in passing upon the
Appropriateness of Construction Reconstruction or exterior
alteration of buildings or structures by the DRB: The Board
shall not consider interior arrangements and shall not make
any requirements except for the purpose of preventing
development incompatible with the old historic aspects of the
surroundings.
The DRB shall consider the following in passing upon the
appropriateness of architectural features:
- Exterior Architecture;
- General design, scale and arrangement;
- Texture, materials and color;
- The relationship of the above to surrounding
structures;
HISTORIC DISTRICT DRAFT ORDINANCE page 4
3. Demolition: No building or structure within the district
shall be demolished, removed, or substantially altered in
exterior architectural features of appearance, including the
placement of signs, until a Certificate of Approval is issued
by the DRB.
4. Matters to be considered in determining whether to grant
a permit for razing or demolition: The Board shall consider
any and all of the following criteria:
- Would the removal be
interest?
- Could the building only bE
or difficulty due to its
material or design?
- Would preservation help
historic place in Frederick
-
..........................
detrimental to the public
reproduced at great expense
unique or unusual texture,
to protect or preserve a
County?
5. Offer for Sale: The owner of a building or structure in
a historic district shall, by right, be entitled to demolish
same provided that:
- He has applied for a demolition permit.
- Made a bona fide offer to sell
6. Time schedule for Offer of Sale:
- a number months tared cin the asking price<
7. Hazardous Buildings or structures: can be demolished
without consideration by DRB with written approval of the
Zoning Administrator verifying the conditions necessitating
such action.
8. Moving or Relocation: No officially designated historic
landmark, building, or structure within the district shall be
removed or relocated where such moving is detrimental to the
public interest or where said relocation would be obviously
incongruous to the historic aspects of the structure and/or
the historic district unless the same is approved by the DRB.
HISTORIC DISTRICT DRAFT ORDINANCE page 5
9. Matters to be considered in determining the
appropriateness of moving or relocating a landmark building
or structure within an Historic District:
- Would the move effect the structural soundness of the
building or structure?
- Would the move have a detrimental effect on the
district?
..........................
- hs?
...........................
..........................
10. Uses permitted: Within the Historic District, all uses
shall be permitted pursuant to the official zoning map.
General regulations shall be the same as provided within the
respective underlying zoning districts except where such
regulations are modified or amended as set forth in this
Article.
- Lot regulations
- Height regulations
- others?
11. Exceptions: Where the strict interpretation of these
regulations contradicts existing building or other codes, the
DRB shall make recommendations for reasonable exemptive
relief.
Administration:
1. Zoning Administrator: The County Zoning Administrator
shall not authorize a permit for any erection,
reconstruction, integral exterior facade change,
demolition or razing of a building or structure in the
Historic District until the same has been approved by the
DRB, following the procedures set forth hereafter.
2. Upon receipt of an application for each permit in the
historic district, the Zoning Administrator shall act in
accordance with the existing procedures of his office
except if those procedures are necessarily modified by
the following requirements:
A. He shall forward to the DRB a copy of the
application for such a permit, together with a copy
of the site plan and the building plans and
specifications filed by the applicant.
B. He shall maintain in his office a record of all such
applications and of his handling and final
disposition of the same.
HISTORIC DISTRICT DRAFT ORDINANCE page 6
C. He shall require applicants to submit a sufficient
number of additional copies of materials required
for compliance with the foregoing.
3. Materials to be Submitted for Review• By general rule,
or by specific request in a particular case, the Zoning
Administrator and the DRB may require submission of any
or all of the following in connection with the
application: architectural plans, site plans,
landscaping plans, design for proposed signs with
appropriate detail as to character, proposed exterior
lighting arrangements, elevations of all portions of
structure with important relationships to public view
(with indications as to visual construction materials,
design of doors and windows, colors and relationships to
adjoining structures), and such other exhibits and
reports as are necessary for these determinations.
Requests shall be accepted only from the record owner of
the land involved in such proposal.
4. Fees: The Board of Supervisors shall establish by
resolution a schedule of fees for the examination and
approval or disapproval of proposals submitted in
accordance with this Article.
5. _Other Approvals Required• In any case in which an
applicant's proposal also requires the approval of the
BZA, final action by the BZA shall precede final action
by the DRB. The BZA may, however, table a proposal to
request the comments of the DRB. Preliminary subdivision
plats may be referred to, and commented upon, by the DRB
prior to final action by the Commission. The DRB
comments shall be forwarded to the Commission.
6. Report of the Design Review Board• If the DRB, on the
basis of the review of information received from the
applicant, decides against the granting of a permit, it
shall indicate to the applicant the changes in plans and
specifications, if any, which would protect and/or
preserve the historic aspects of the landmark, building,
structure or district. If the applicant determines that
he will make the suggested changes, he shall so advise
the DRB which shall act accordingly.
HISTORIC DISTRICT DRAFT ORDINANCE page 7
The DRB shall return in writing, within ninety (90) days
after submission of the application, its decision
concerning authorizing a permit for the erection,
reconstruction, significant exterior alteration,
restoration, razing or demolition, or relocation of all
or part of any building within the historic district.
If the DRB approves an application, it shall authorize
the Zoning Administrator to issue a permit for the work
so specified in said application.
If the DRB disapproves, it shall do so in writing and
copies shall be given to the applicant and the Zoning
Administrator. The disapproval shall indicate what
changes in the plans and specifications would enable the
proposal to meet the conditions for protecting and
preserving the historical character of the district.
In the case of disapproval, the application shall not be
resubmitted for consideration until twelve (12) months
have elapsed from the date of disapproval unless the
indicated changes in plans and specifications required
to meet the conditions for protecting the district have
been incorporated into the reapplication.
Upon receipt of the DRB's written disapproval, the Zoning
Administrator shall disapprove the application for the
required permit and so advise the applicant. The
applicant may appeal the disapproval as provided by law
and herein below.
The Zoning Administrator shall have the power to
institute any proceedings at law or in equity necessary
for the enforcement of this Article in the same manner
as in the enforcement of the other sections of this
Ordinance.
AN OUTLINE OF THE HISTORIC PRESERVATION EFFORT
IN FREDERICK COUNTY
v
Prepared ny the Frederick County 11worie Resources Advisory
IIN
BACKGROUND
In 1988 acting on behalf of the Frederick County Board of Supervisors, the Winchester/Frederick County Historical Society applied
for and received an $18,000.00 Threatened Properties Matching Grant from the Virginia Department of Historic Resources. The
Board of Supervisors contributed $15,000.00 and the Historical Society donated $3,000.00 for a combined budget of $36,000.00 for the
survey. Over 750 properties were documented in this phase of the survey. A second Threatened Properties Matching Grant was
received, and phase two of the survey began in June of 1990.
In 1989 the Board of Supervisors established the Historic Resources Advisory Board, (HRAB) to provide detail information on historic
resources to the Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors. The HRAB is charged with the following:
Develop standards and criteria to be utilized in evaluating what sites in the County are of local historic significance_
Using the standards, select particular sites and geographic areas which would be recommended to the Board of Supervisors
for recognition as historically sites and/or districts.
Develop recommendations on additional methods to be used to preserve historic resources.
Review particular development proposals and make recommendations to the Planning Commission and Board of Supervisor:
as to the most appropriate treatment of any historic features contained within the area of the proposal_
Develop recommendations on the use and promotion of historic resources in association with tourism, economic development
and education.
HISTORIC FACTS
* The first Europeans to come through the Shenandoah
Valley were Jesuit missionaries in 1632.
* Frederick County was created from western Orange County
by the House of Burgesses on December 21, 1738 and was
named after the Prince of Wales.
* English ownership of Frederick County was originally by the
Virginia Company but was taken over by the Crown in 1624.
* County Government in Virginia was originally by self-
perpetuating courts. Frederick County's Court was proclaimed
and organized in 1743.
* George Washington held his first elected office representing
Frederick County, having been elected to the House of
Burgesses in 1758 and 1761.
* Frederick County played a significant role in the Civil War,
in part because of its strategic location in relation to
Washington D.C. The Town of Winchester changed hands
some 70 times during the course of the War. Major Battles
included the First Battle of Kernstown, The Second Battle of
Winchester, The Third Battle of Winchester, and the Battle
of Cedar Creek,
* There are a Great number of historic sites in Frederick
County. The following sites are listed on both the Virginia
Landmarks Register and the National Register of Historic
Places; Belle Grove, Hopewell Friends Meeting House, Monte
Vista, Springdale House and Mill Complex, Willa Cather
House (birthplace), St. Thomas Episcopal Church, and Willow
Shade.
HISTORIC PRESERVATION GOALS
Currently, the HRAB is compiling a list of potentially
significant sites from those surveyed, based on established
criteria. The list is a first step, and consists of those sites
which the HRAB will evaluate against more detailed standards
in order to begin recommending sites for recognition as
locally significant. It is hoped that a system of identification
will be adopted in which sites designated by the Board of
Supervisors will be issued a plaque or marker recognizing
them as such.
In addition to individual properties, several areas of the
County have been identified as having potential for historic
districts. The HRAB is developing a proposal for a historic
preservation component to the Zoning Ordinance. The
proposal will have guidelines for the creation and regulation
of historic districts.
Other regulatory methods are also being evaluated to help
protect the historic resources. Incentives allowed by law, such
as tax breaks for the rehabilitation, adaptive reuse or
restoration of historic structures are being considered. Other
voluntary methods such as conservation easements should also
be encouraged.
Possibilities for improving the attractiveness of the area to
tourists such as the organization of a "historic weekend" are
being promoted by the HRAB.
The HRAB hopes to develop an education program consisting
of slide presentations and lectures, brochures with self -guide
tours of various historic sites, guidelines for builders to use
when doing restoration work and lists for property owners
seeking qualified contractors to undertake restorations.